What people complain about in Airtable
6 reported problems name Airtable as what the person is currently using. Below is what they said was missing, and what they resorted to instead.
- Complaints
- 6
- Avg severity
- 3.3/5
- Would pay to fix
- 0
- Industries
- 3
What they wish it did
Capabilities people described needing that Airtable does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.
- Real-time multi-user database with automatic conflict resolution
- Formula change detection and rollback capability
- Real-time synchronized database with access controls for multi-user editing
- Formula validation and change auditing to prevent errors
- A purpose-built client follow-up tracker that automatically surfaces next actions without manual database setup
- A dashboard that consolidates last update, next step, and waiting status across all clients
- A tool that alerts when a client has gone quiet or a promise is overdue
- Centralized platform with version control and approval tracking
What they do instead
The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.
- 2 peopleediting local copies of the same Excel file
- dragging a pricing formula down the wrong column
- Dragging pricing formula down wrong column manually
- manually digging through emails, notes, old conversations to figure out what needs attention
- uses spreadsheet, CRM, Airtable, Notion, or basic checklist to track statuses
- relies on memory or email inbox chaos to manage follow-ups
- uses spreadsheet to track operations
- uses WhatsApp for approvals and updates
- uses email for approvals
The problems themselves
Highest opportunity score first.
A 5-person business lost $4k due to Excel version conflicts and formula errors, lacking a single source of truth for inventory and sales tracking.
4HighGeneral Business ServicesInventory ManagementSMB DataHubSmall business suffering financial losses ($4k) due to spreadsheet version conflicts and formula errors when scaling inventory and sales tracking.
4HighGeneral Business ServicesData ManagementSpreadsheetSafe ProProperty managers lack integrated systems for organizing properties, tenants, maintenance, and operations, leading to manual, inefficient workflows.
3MediumProperty ManagementProperty ManagementPropertyFlow ProSmall service business owner struggles with mental clutter and time waste from manually tracking client follow-ups, promises, blockers, and status across emails, notes, and conversations.
4HighGeneral Business ServicesClient Communication & ExperienceFollowUpFlowSmall business owners struggle with version control, approvals, and task tracking when relying on spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and email for operations.
3MediumGeneral Business ServicesOperations ManagementBizOps FlowA manager needs a simple mobile-friendly tool for field teams to log site inspections, but is unsure whether to use a flexible database like Airtable or a dedicated mini-app, due to concerns about mobile experience and clutter.
2MildField ServiceData ManagementInspectFlow
Read this fairly
These are complaints, and only complaints — nobody posts to say their software worked. A high count mostly reflects how many people use Airtable at all, so this page is not a quality judgement and should not be read as one. What it is good for is the shape of the gaps: the specific jobs people could not get done, which are the same whether the tool is popular or not.